Reuven Israel (b. 1978, Israel) lives and works in New York.
Reuven Israel’s strong chromatics and clean, familiar shapes evoke a pre-conceptual response. Hinting at memories of known forms, the sculptures are at once seductive and unwelcoming. Made of MDF and coated in perfectly smooth layers of car paint, the sculptures’ evocative forms are at severe odds with their actual functionality. Israel constructs each of his pieces by hand, meticulously sanding and painting over a long period of time, a process that is denied by the final piece’s slick, industrial sheen. This preoccupation with the sculptures’ material makeup reflects on disposable value in object-based culture.
